Barangay Tisa wants to have day class in its nat’l high school

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Asian family values are challenged under a sweeping US immigration reform plan that grants visas based more on skills than on family connections in the United States.

While the plan offers a path to citizenship for 12 million undocumented immigrants, it crumbles the bedrock underlying four decades of US immigration policy that is especially important to Asian
Americans: family reunification.

Congress is to consider this week reforms such as ending issuance of US permanent resident cards for siblings and adult children of US citizens and holders of what is known as the "green card."

The new system calls for most green cards to be based on a merit system that would favor applicants who speak English, those with higher education and some with specific job skills.

Trading off family reunification for employment-based visas is seen as inconsistent with US values and with Asia's extended family system, Asian experts say.